Chytil breaks out with a hat trick in 5-4 win over Islanders

Well, that was fun, wasn’t it?  Never mind that it was the last preseason game for the New York Rangers and they were playing without Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin or Chris Kreider.  It’s like Gerard Gallant wanted to see what the kids could do without their stars and this night, they came through with flying colors.

Sure, it took overtime and the Rangers allowed the Isles to tie the game in the final minute of regulation. Sure, the Islanders dominated the third period, outshooting the Blueshirts by a wide margin.

But Filip Chytil scored three goals, Vitalie Kravtsov scored on a scorching one-timer and Kaapo Kakko had two key assists.  Yes, the kids came through.

Here’s a video recap of the game if you missed it.

Toughness

The Islanders played their full NHL roster in this game.  This was the same lineup, minus Matt Martin, that punished the Rangers in their last three games last season, outscoring them13-1 and manhandling them at will.

In reality, it was the way the Rangers lost to the Islanders in those three games that led to the dismissal of John Davidson and Jeff Gorton.  The Tom Wilson incident was just the last straw.

Even though this night the Blueshirts were missing Ryan Reaves, their enforcer, this is a completely different New York Rangers team. Chris Drury went out and got Barclay Goodrow, Sammy Blais, Jarred Tinordi, Patrik Nemeth and Dryden Hunt.  Add Morgan Barron and Kevin Rooney and this year’s edition of the New York Rangers won’t back down to anyone.

If you look at the Rangers’ lineup from their meeting on April 29 there is simply no comparison. The Rangers had no Jacob Trouba and no Chris Kreider. Their toughness was limited to a beleaguered Ryan Lindgren, Brendan Smith and Rooney.

You could see the difference in the game tonight.  The Islanders threw their share of dirty hits and cheap shots, but the Rangers didn’t back down and they weren’t cowed by it.

And that toughness complimented the young, finesse players in the lineup and the Rangers won.

Sure, it was only a preseason game, but it was also a vindication of the dramatic moves made by Chris Drury to make the team tougher to play against. Many observers said that it was an overreaction to the Wilson incident.  Not so, it was giving the team the one element it was missing, the ability to stand up to a heavy, physical team like the Islanders.

Notes on the game

Because the game was played in Bridgeport, for some reason the stats folks took the night off.  The provided only scoring and penalties. They didn’t even break down the shots by period.  So, we don’t know which team won the most faceoffs or who had the most hits, giveaways or takeaways.  Hey, it’s the preseason.

Filip Chytil has been snakebit all preseason, never able to finish on numerous chances around the net.  Not tonight.  He scored the last three Ranger goals, two on the power play. Chytil has played 186 NHL games and has scored two goals in a game only once.  Could this be the breakout year for the Czech centerman?

The Rangers went 3-5 on the power play while the they killed two of three Islander man advantages.  The first power play goal was a spectacular one-timer by Vitali Kravtsov on a perfect pass from Ryan Strome.

Without Panarin or Zibanejad in the lineup, it gave power play time to Kaapo Kakko, Alexis Lafrenière and Chytil.  Ironically, Chytil was on the first power play unit because Ryan Strome was injured.

Strome suffered an apparent injury to his arm in an accidental collision with Scott Mayfield. Both players went down hard and Strome was clearly in pain and left the game immediately.  After the game Coach Gallant said that was nothing serious and he should be okay for opening night. He had been having an excellent game with that assist on the Kravtsov goal and a score of his own just 39 seconds into the second period.

Kevin Rooney also left the game in third period with an injury after a scrum with Ross Johnston. It didn’t look serious and Rooney was bleeding from the mouth when he left the ice. Gallant said it was nothing, just a bloody mouth after taking a  punch..

Kaapo Kakko had a dynamic game and is showing huge improvement over his first two seasons. He is willing to hold on to the puck and to drive into the offensive zone. It was a Kakko rush that led to their overtime power play when Mathew Barzal had to take him down.  He had two hardworking assists and was their most effective forward.

Alexandar Georgiev was very solid in goal and had little chance on any of the Islander goals.  He was particularly good in the third period.<

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The Islander goals were scored by Anders Lee and Matthew Barzal,both with two goals each. Barzal was buzzing the entire game and Lee was his usual net front presence.

The Rangers were resilient.  They came back to tie the game after the Islanders scored first,  and then retook the lead three times after the Isles came back to tie the score.

If you need any indication that this is a new  regime, look at who was on the ice for the start of 3v3 overtime.  Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko and Adam Fox.  The question is, would Chytil and Kakko get a similar chance next week with Zibanejad, Panarin and Kreider in the lineup?

The Rangers finished their exhibition schedule with a 4-2 record, winning two games in overtime and taking their last three decisions, trending upward as they should in the preseason.

What’s next

The Rangers have three days to prepare for the season opener on Wednesday night versus the Capitals.  A national television audience will be watching TNT’s first hockey telecast.

There are still roster decisions to be made with the team needing to cut two players before the season starts out of Morgan Barron, Dryden Hunt, Julien Gauthier Libor Hajek and Jarred Tinordi.  All three forwards played well this game.  Barron was a physical presence while Hunt mixed it up with Ross Johnston in a third period scrum. Gauthier keeps driving to the net, but still needs to finish.  Jarred Tinordi may have earned a job with the big club with his play the last two games.  if Reaves is out, it will help to have Tinordi on the bench.

The curiosity is why Libor Hajek didn’t play in this game. He’s fighting for a job, but didn’t have a chance to show his stuff.  With him needing to clear waivers to go to Hartford, Drury may be trying to rustle up a deal for the Czech defenseman.

It all starts for real in just a few days.  The Rangers look ready after two impressive wins against the Devils and Islanders